Click on the links below for more inforamtion on these recently held events:

• NFPA Conference & Expo 2009 - See voting results, view blogs, photos & event highlights and more...
• World Habitat Day - Read speeches given on that day.
• Fire Protection & Life Safety in Buildings & Transportation Systems (Santender, Spain) - View event program.

Omkar Channon represents WOBO at the Fourth World Urban Forum

The Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum was held in Nanjing, China, November 3-6, 2008. The theme was Harmonious Urbanization. Opening ceremonies, chaired by the People’s Republic of China, featured very impressive cultural performances provided by the City of Nanjing and The Moipei Quartet from Kenya. Welcoming remarks from several Heads of State were made to the representatives of 175 countries and the nearly 8000 delegates who participated.  Daily coordinated meetings numbered more than 200.

The Special Citation of the Habitat Scroll of Honour was presented to the Mayor of Nanjing for the City of Nanjing.  In 2007, this award was given to H.H. Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain in recognition of his visionary leadership in effectively pursuing the Millennium Development Goals. 

Al Khalifa in conjunction with UN-HABITAT created the self-titled H.H. SHAIKH KHALIFA BIN SALMAN AL KHALIFA UN-HABITAT AWARD in order to promote the ideals and principles of good governance in context of housing and urban development with focus on equity.  The award consists of US$100,000 cash prize, every two years, including a trophy, a certificate, and travel and accommodation for the winner to attend the Award ceremony. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding efforts by individuals, organizations and institutions in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the attainment of human settlements related to the Millennium Development Goals. Promote international and South-South cooperation through the exchange and transfer of lessons learned.

In his speech H.H. Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa stated, “we have taken the initiative and decided to launch an award, overseen by UN-HABITAT, to encourage innovative ideas with respect to urban development. It is a great pleasure for me and Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka of Un-HABITAT to take part in this ceremony and to grant the Award for the first time ever to the Representatives of the Green Brigades from Burkina Faso.

WOBO received a special invitation to participate in the forum “Decent Work in the Urbanized World”, hosted jointly by  International Labour Organization, Building & Wood Workers International, and UN-HABITAT.  Three leading voices in this discussion were Anna Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary-General, UN-HABITAT, Anita Normark,  General Secretary, Building & Wood Workers International, and Juan Somavia, Director General, International Labour Organization.

Tibaijuka, in opening remarks stated building workers make and shape our cities and towns. She hoped the session will stimulate debate and action ideas to advance the decent work agenda within the construction sector. She thanked ILO and BWI for organizing a special session.

Normark, in her keynote address entitled Procurement Policy and Labour Standards, strongly advocated for the protection and promotion of the rights of construction workers so that they may live and work comfortably. She urged the international community to find ways to ensure the safety and well-being of construction workers. Urbanization can only be “harmonious” if the builders of our cities are accorded “decent work”. BWI represented over thousand trade unions.

Somavia stated that “Decent Work” is a long standing advocacy of the ILO.  Dialogue, such as the one we are about to undertake among trade unions, employers group, city mayors/local authorities and the international community and agencies, is of utmost importance. This aim cannot be achieved without collective commitment to finding the appropriate means towards it. Employment contracts should include safety, health, decent living and social welfare of the workers.

During this forum, Omkar Nath Channan, Governor, WOBO, suggested that a secretariat be established under UN-HABITAT for undertaking this new project for research and development and make recommendations from time to time through appropriate channels.

This session followed the general format of WUF4 where selected panelists introduced and made short substantive presentations on specific issues followed by discussions between the delegates and panelists on specific issues. The Chair from the deliberations prepared a summary, which reflected the main thrust of the presentations, discussions and recommendations submitted to the plenary by the Chair for adoption by consensus. Once adopted the conclusions and recommendations would be submitted to the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) at its subsequent session for consideration and appropriate action.

The Fifth World Urban Forum will be held in 2010 at Rio Di Jenario, Brazil.

Robert Solomon presents at 8th World Congress of CTBUH

The 8th World Congress of CTBUH was held March 3-5, 2008 in Dubai-current home of the world tallest building, the Burj Dubai-which is still under construction and getting taller.  Over 950 delegates from 43 different countries attended the Congress.  The Congress theme “Tall and Green: Typology for a Sustainable Urban Future”, integrated presentations, seminars, technical tours and workshops representing virtually every aspect of tall building development.  Architects, engineers, planners, developers, fabricators, academics and specialty subcontractors were all on hand to participate in the event. An 875-page printed proceeding was produced, substantiating every presentation.

NFPA, an active participant in the Council since 1997 served as a sponsor. Robert Solomon from the NFPA engineering staff discussed the concept of Measuring Optimum and Code-Plus Design Criteria For the High Rise Environment. This paper described what enhanced design considerations and redundancies are available to address the additional fire safety concerns that are somewhat unique to high rise buildings.  Supplemental discussions included the realm of measures that might be considered to incentivize use of such features.  Presentations on other fire safety related topics were made by NFPA member organizations including Hughes Associates, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Rolf Jensen and Associates and Schirmer Engineering Corporation.